WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. By John F. Bailey. April 19, 2007: As first reported by WPCNR two weeks ago, incumbent councilman Arnold Bernstein has decided to shun a floor fight and go right to a primary to defend his seat – after being told he would not be endorsed for reelection by the Democrat Party Nominating Committee,  Bernstein confirmed to WPCNR Tuesday evening he was definitely primarying and was not even going to go for a floor fight before the Democrat City Committee April 25.

Claire Eisenstadt, Don Hughes and Robert Stackpole, three other candidates will take their wares to the floor of city committee attempting to persuade the district leaders to pick them over incumbents Benjamin Boykin, Dennis Power and the nominated Milagros Lecuona.

Bernstein told WPCNR, “I look at each issue based on the issue. The fact that many of my votes are in tune with the administration is a function of the issue not a function of supporting one entity or another entity. My not getting the (Council) nomination is a form of punishment.  It’s a retribution for not toeing the party line. The people ultimately have to decide what kind of person do you want to represent you. I am the best candidate and I’m going to win.”

Bernstein is already campaigning, having fired a salvo across the bows of incumbent Benjamin Boykin with an exchange on the growth of the city budget Wednesday evening. Bernstein expressed the concern during an acrimonious  Budget Committee meeting Wednesday evening (only the third meeting of the committee since last Spring). Bernstein said, “Our population is growing up 53,000 to 57,000. They don’t want services cut. We have to find sources for revenue.”  If not, he said, “Then let’s find cuts.” It was the first time any councilman has uttered the word “cut.”

In the two council reviews of the budget this week, the council has not suggested any cuts in the $154.5 Million city budget, with raises for Commissioners, the Mayor, the Executive Officer and the Mayor’s staff still to come. This discreet decision on paying themselves traditionally adds another $600,000 to the budget which next year should reach $164 Million assuming another modest 5% increase — making the budget a million short of what the school budget was this year ($165.8 Million).

Meanwhile, three other challengers discarded by the party Nominating Committee are going to take their case to the District Leaders of the party by arranging to have their names nominated from the floor. They are Don Hughes, the city’s provider of hard-to-find, hard-to-get city documents on his website, whiteplainsonline.com; the architect Claire Eisenstadt, open space advocate and Robert Stackpole, the finance expert and member of the Citizens Plan Committee which prodded the city into reviewing its comprehensive plan for the city in 2005.

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WPCNR SEWER REPORT. By John F. Bailey. April 18, 2007: Water that was not supposed to be in the county sewer lines contributed to the backing up of sewage into about 25 homes in White Plains Sunday. The source of the overflow into the County Sewer Trunkline under Mamaroneck Avenue, which he believes caused the backup of raw sewage into White Plains homes, has not been determined according to  Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti.

Joseph “Bud” Nicoletti, White Plains Commissioner of Public Works, shown supervising in the field, relining the Main Street Sewer, 2004, which did not back up Sunday. 

Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

Nicoletti attributes the flooding of approximately 200 homes  in White Plains to the heaviest rains he has ever seen hit the city. He said the 10% of homes experienced sewer backups due to  the county sanitary sewer trunkline being filled to capacity by the time it reached the area where it runs through the Albermarle Road, Beverly Road and Gedney Farms area. The 150 or more other  homes reporting extensive flooding, Nicoletti said had it caused by  storm water runoff and ground seepage due to saturated grounds, and overflowing storm drains.

The Commissioner said the 7-1/2 inches of rain in 16 hours  on Sunday (by WPCNR measurement, two months of normal rainfall in less than a day) caused the majority of the flooding in the homes. He blamed ground runoff, saturated ground, and overflowing storm drains for the non-sewer related flooding.

Mystery Penetration of Sewer by

Excess Water.

In the matter of the sewer backups, this was different. This should not have happened, the Commissioner indicated, despite the recordsetting rain. The Commissioner attributed those backups to the county sanitary sewer trunkline to being at capacity. The Commissioner said when water has no place to go it goes back from whence it came, overflowing back along the line into sinks and toilets. It did exactly this at a home on Beverly Road and a home in Gedney Farms that contacted WPCNR.

The Commissioner explained sanitary sewer lines are sealed along their entire length,  quarantining them from storm water drain systems, precisely to prevent storm water from entering and over capacitating the sewer system. The question is what made just the Mamaroneck Avenue county sewer line backup in a 12 hour period — something it has not done before ever, in the memory of the Gedney Farms resident we spoke to.

Non-sewage Water Got into Sewer System

The Commissioner said that there had to have been breaches of the county sanitary sewer system “upstream,” either in White Plains, Valhalla, Rye, Purchase, Rye Brook,( communities on the same line, according to the Commissioner).

The Main Street county trunk line which conveys sewage to Yonkers, did not, Nicoletti said, have any backup problems, pointing out that the relining of that sewer by the city at developer expense has been effective.

The trunkline that apparently did cause the backups runs down Mamaroneck Avenue through the city dump then back down Mamaroneck Avenue to the sewage treatment plant in Mamaroneck .  Attached to that line, are many of the buildings and homes on the East side of White Plains,  as well as the communities of Rye, Purchase, Rye Brook, North White Plains all of which have experienced extensive redevelopment in the last 10 years.

Nicoletti  said the breaches could have been caused by “illegal” connections to the county sewer trunkline, or the possibility of persons evacuating water into the sewer traps or sinks in their homes during the storm, “upstream” from the affected areas. According to a longtime resident in Gedney Farms, “these sewer backups have never happened before. Why now? Why this area? My whole house smells like  a barn.”

Storm Drain Overflow Should Not Have

Could Not Have Gotten Into Sewer System by Itself.

Nicoletti said the storm drains definitely overflowed, pointing out the water gushing out of personhole covers on Mamaroneck Avenue, and Hartsdale Avenue (shown on WPCNR), as examples of the storm drains being at capacity. Still, he said, that storm water should not have leaked into the sewer system.

If persons were evacuating water seeping into their basement  into sinks or sewer line traps connected to their sewer line instead of out doors on the lawn, the incursion on the sewer line by extra water other than sewage effluent could have been considerable.

If the sewer line is running at higher levels because of increased development in White Plains and “upstream” of the city, or because of illegal connections, this might mean the county trunk line down Mamaroneck has a lot less room in it.  Extra “illegal” pumping on Sunday into the system could add considerably to normal sewage flow. 

 But as of this morning, it is a mystery why only a part of the city experienced these sewage backups.

When you’re pumping out water, it is a lot more than you think it is.

In a news report on WINS on the Mamaroneck cleanup, a contractor evacuating water from a gymnasium said flood water had been up to the basketball rims. He said he had removed 160,000 gallons of water from that one facility. Persons pumping out their basements into the sinks or sewer traps “upstream” from White Plains, the combination might have overloaded the sewer line so it effected the Albermarle Road, Beverly Road and Gedney Farms area.

County Sewer Lines Should Be Secure

Commissioner Nicoletti said Westchester County conducted closed circuit television inspections of their sewer lines a decade ago, and executed $40 Million of repairs to the sewer convoy lines, including the Mamaroneck Avenue County Trunk Line in question. Nicoletti also said he had relined the Mamaroneck Avenue sewer to speed flows during White Plains recent “Renaissance,”  He said the lines should be secure from storm water contamination.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. April 17, 2007: Paul Wood and Chief Financial Officer Gina Cuneo-Harwood announced exclusively to The CitizeNetReporter Tuesday evening that agreement has been reached in principle with LCOR on the procedure LCOR would follow in purchasing the city municipal parking lot for $15.5 Million.

Purchase of the lot is the first step in building a pair of apartment towers, which would include 107 affordable housing apartments in the 500-unit mix of retail, office and rental apartments LCOR plans to put on the site. Last week, in a surprise request LCOR, (which originally said in discussing possibility of city financing of the project they would not need a PILOT),  requested a $300,000-plus Payment In Lieu of Taxes payment going out twenty years on the project. However, details were not provided at the work session. Councilperson Rita Malmud said she wanted a careful look at the PILOT arrangement.

Peter Gilpatric of LCOR, shown last Thursday evening, asking for a $300,000-plus  PILOT on his 500-unit, double tower apartment, retail complex featuring 107  affordable apartments project. Yesterday the city announced the terms of payment for the commuter lot on Bank Street where the project would be built. Photo, WPCNR News

Wood told WPCNR that $8 Million of the purchase price would be paid this year (by June 30), and $7 Million would be paid next year. The $8 Million in cash, Wood said would go into the current 2006-2007 city budget.

WPCNR notes the windfall could have the effect of replenishing the $7.75 Million appropriation from fund balance in the current budget, and replacing any cash not received from land sales on Railside Avenue, the proceeds of which have been reported by the city to have not been fully collected. 

WPCNR did not ask whether interest would be paid on the $7 Million payment delayed until the 2007-2008 budget year. Originally the commuter parking lot was valued,

No PILOT NO PROJECT.

Wood has reported the land previously, as appraised at $20.5 Million, and the price LCOR was asked to pay was lowered to $15.5 Million to pay back LCOR for the building of parking spaces  to replace spaces lost by building the new complex on the commuter lot. LCOR came in last Thursday requesting a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) of $300,000 plus a year on the project for the first 12 years of the project, the PILOT beginning after the apartments are built.  Wood said last week that LCOR would be paying the city $200,000 a year via a lease for the parking spaces used for the commuting public after the new Bank Street towers open.

The Bank Street Job

 2 Buildings Built on city Commuter Parking Lot, 29 Stories each, 272 feet tall, 536 Apartment Rentals, 109 “below market,”costing $260 Million Most Likely to be Financed by the White Plains Urban Renewal Agency.

Without the PILOT, Peter Gilpatric said LCOR could not build the project. Previously, in gaining approval of the council for the land sale and the change of use for the lot, Mr. Gilpatric had said LCOR would not need to request a PILOT on the project. Gilpatric reported last week that LCOR wanted the city to either apply for a Section 41A Home Rule approval from the state legislature, enabling LCOR to receive additional Industrial Development Agency  sales tax breaks and to be able to finance the new LCOR project with Urban Renewal Agency issued Revenue Bonds. The project is estimated by Gilpatric to cost $260 Million.

The city is attempting to build what is called an 80-20 project (20% affordable units). LCOR also said they were requesting city financing of the project. The city is planning to ask for approval of home rule legislation from the state legislaturd approving  city financing of the project under the Section 421A real estate law and enable the city to issue bonds through their Urban Renewal Agency to finance the project, that would be paid by LCOR. The $300,000 PILOT figure requested is based on appraisal of the commuter parking lot at the time of sale, and not on the apartments and retail to be built there.

The price of an “affordable studio unit” was estimated at $1,500 a month.

Sales Tax Up Handsomely. Officials Do Not Remember Figure.

Another piece of news from last night’s budget presentation was that, according to Gina Cuneo-Harwood the sales tax for January-February-March period revenue is up from last year, she estimated about 7% but could not remember the exact figure.

Last year the city collected $11,327,529 in the Third Quarter (Jan-Feb-March) which would put the current figure up 7% at a little over  $12 Million which would make it the fourth consecutive year of increases in Third Quarter sales tax receipts – up from a low of $8.8 Million in 2002-2003, before the City Center opened.  However half of that 7% is attributable to inflation year-to-year, which the state calculates as having been 3.84%, which would make the real increase a little over 3%

It is notable that in the official sales tax growth chart displayed at last evening’s presentation to the Council (the nightcap of the Common Council Twilight-Night Doubleheader  meeting last night), inflation accounts for much of the gain.

Inflation Erosion.

In 1997-98, the city collected $29.9 Million in Sales Tax. In 2006-2007, the city is on a pace (buttressed by Harwood’s report that third quarter sales tax collections were up) to hit $43 Million in Sales Tax a decade later.  Inflation over that period of time has been 23% according to Infationdata.com. $29.9 Million then would be worth $36.5 Million now. In that context the $13 Million growth is really $6.5 Million in growth, adjusted for inflation since the end of 2002-2003 when the city rung up $34.4 Million in Sales Tax.

  In the time since the City Center opened in fall 2003 and the Renaissance “officially” began in fall 2003, the city has increased sales tax collections $8.5 Million from $34.4 Million in 2003 to $43 million. Of that the  original $34.4 million has inflated to a value of $37.4 Million today….which makes the real growth in sales tax dollars just $5.5 Million in the four years of “The Official Renaissance.” About $1.3 Million a year in real revenue from all of the development opened since 2003.

Sales Tax for First Quarter 2006-2008 was $10M; Second Quarter, $11.9, and third Quarter estimated at 7% is about $12.2. We await the hard figure from city finance. This translates to about $43.5  Million in sales tax to be collected in 2006-2007. The Final Quarter in 2005-2006 brought White Plains $9.4 Million in sales taxes last year.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. April 16, 2007:. Updated 10:14 AM In a Special Meeting of the Common Council this evening, the council approved a landmark Verizon Cable Franchise Agreement calling for a $250,000 grant upfront over the first three years of the agreement and a $1 per subscriber PEG Grant over the first 10 years, which increases 25 cents in the 11th through 15th years of the contract., The contract is worth an estimated $3.4 Million.

Paul Jamison of Cablevision Makes an Offer and warns the council of an ambiguity in the contract they subsequently approved last night.

The approval was made over the objections of Cablevision, whose attorney pointed out as WPCNR did in a previous article that a section of the contract that city attorney Edward Dunphy and city negotiating lawyer Mark Ames cited as assurance the PEG Grant would be paid, stipulated by its language that Verizon would have the right to enter into a lesser contract if the city negotiated a contract for a lesser amount with another cable operator such as Cablevision.

Mr. Dunphy rejected the Cablevision attorney’s contention and interpretation of the key paragraph, when asked by the council to explain how the city PEG grant from Verizon is protected. Dunphy took an attack stance, saying Jamision took the paragraph (that Jamison read),”out of context” and dismissed the interpretation as being “a disservice to us.”  Dunphy said the two sentences had nothing to do with each other.

Protection Enough? The “redlined” agreement made available to WPCNR by Rita Malmud showing the new wording in Section 5.4.2 of the new Verizon franchise contract showing the removal of the words “Except as set forth below.” and “The second and third installments of the initial PEG Grant shall not become due and payable until the LFA (city) imposes a commensurate obligation to the obligations contained in this Section 5.4 on all cable service providers in the Service Area.” Mark Ames, the city’s private negotiator, told WPCNR that it was the elimination of these two  phrases that assured the city it would receive the PEG and Annual PEG Grants.

Mr. Jamison, theCablevision attorney, echoing a comment in a previous WPCNR report,  maintained that the wording in Section 5.4.3 in the above photo, to wit, “In any event, if any new or renewed franchise agreement contains obligations that are lesser in amount or aggregate value than the obligations imposed in this Section 5.4 (including the total amount of the Initial PEG Grant and the sliding scale amounts of the Annual PEG Grant), Franchisee’s (Verizon’s) obligations under Section 5.4 shall be reduced to an equivalent amount.”

Cablevision’s attorney, Paul Jamison said the correct way to structure the agreement between the two parties was to have Cablevision and Verizon each pay $1.7 Million over 15 years, and he said Cablevision was prepared to sign a deal like that.

Mayor Joseph Delfino tried to limit Mr. Jamison’s response,  forbidding him to speak any farther, (“I don’t want you to comment” in reponse), chiding Cablevision for refusing to negotiate for a full year previously, and not paying the $100,000 he alleged they owed on their present agreement. The Mayor said he was angered that Cablevision made an offer now. “We’re not negotiating Verizon’s contact here.” However, he let Jamison respond.

After the hearing, Cablevision’s Mr. Jamison told WPCNR the city had refused to negotiate the $100,000 allegedly owed by Cablevision into the new renewal agreement, which Cablevision had been willing to do, Jamison said. Jamison also backed up his original comment about the section 5.4.3, describing the language of the Verizon contract the city approved as “poorly drafted.”

Dennis Power, the councilman, asked for more time to digest the contract, since all changes had not been incorporated into the agreement paperwork before the Council. Power agitated over this issue, prompting Councilman Roach to ask to see all the new language before the vote. Rita Malmud cut a fine line between the two positions, asking for a 15 minute recess to go over the final nits in the new contract. The council ajourned for the fifteen minutes, came back and Rita Malmud said she was satisfied with the changes, and had been assured by counsel Dunphy that all changes the council had requested had been made, and she saw no reason to hold up the approval.

The Mayor had been pushing for the agreement approval in order that the franchise agreement with Verizon be presented to the Public Service Commission of New York State May 16.

Power, too said he was satisfied all was contained in the agreement. The council then voted approval, 7-0. It is now up to the Public Service Commission.

WPCNR asked Mr. Dunphy after the vote what prevents the city being hit for a refund if a more attractive cable agreement is signed before, and why the city did not include the phrase to the effect that the PEG Grant of $250,000 was guaranteed to the city, Dunphy said “it’s in there, call me tomorrow.”

WPCNR asked Mr. Ames, the city negotiator, in light of the fact that Verizon’s right to recover all costs of the franchise agreement from the subscribers is not mandated, why didn’t the city negotiate that part of any PEG agreement could not be recovered from subscribers. Ames said Verizon was adamant on retaining that right.

Kensington a Slam Dunk.

Earlier in the meeting, the council voted approval 7-0 to approve White Plains Kensington LLC as the take-over developer of the former Sunrise Senior Living project on Cromwell Place. The council also approved borrow $19 Million to build the parking garage to serve the city, White Plains Hospital and the Kensington project, moving that project for the next stage which is formal approval of White Plains Hospital Center as partner in the parking garage project.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From White Plains Department of Public Safety. April 16, 2007, 4 PM EDT: Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson in a statement released moments ago, informs WPCNR: I believe the road closures are now all open. We have at least 50 pump outs (of flooded homes)  still waiting. I’ll get you a total when I get an updated list.